Conventional wide area wireless networks using Internet Protocol (IP) employ Content-Based Billing (CBB) to capture the content, including type or kind, of subscriber traffic within the network. To this end, a wireless service provider will deploy CBB probes throughout the wireless network to capture the content of subscriber traffic. At least four problems exist with this approach: the CBB probes are not easy to maintain, they do not scale well, they do not monitor actual user experience, and they only measure subscriber use of the wireless network.
CBB probes are not easy to maintain because they must be deployed at a number of points within a wireless network as shown in FIG. 1. The CBB probes must be included in the access side of the network, such as CBB probe 125, which is located between the packet data serving node (PDSN) 120 and a Local Area Network (LAN)/Wide Area Network (WAN) 130. CBB probe 125 “sniffs” the data sent to and/or requested by the Mobile Station (MS) 100 via the communication tower 105, the base station 110, the Base Station Controller (BSC)/Packet Control Function (PCF) 115, and the PDSN 120. Because the CBB probe 125 operates at the Internet Protocol (IP) level, the CBB probe 125 knows what dynamically allocated IP address sent or requested the sniffed data, but not what subscriber. Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) authorization and accounting data correlates the static Mobile Directory Number (MDN)/Mobile Identification Number (MIN) and Network Access Identifier/(NAI) of the subscriber with the dynamically allocated IP address. As an Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) server 135 stores this correlation data, an additional CBB probe 140 is required, especially for billing purposes. When the subscriber uses a Mobile IP-based telephone, the data stream goes through a Home Agent (HA) server 150, leading to yet another CBB probe 155. The results of the sniffing by CBB probes 125, 140, and 155 are then fed to a billing server 145. Over time, changes in the network topology, routing, and security configurations occur. These changes are difficult to support as each can lead to requirements for additional CBB probes and/or different locations for existing CBB probes.
CBB probes do not scale well when a wireless service provider adds new PDSNs and HAs. As each PDSN and HA will require a CBB probe, the number of CBB probes within the overall wireless network can rapidly increase. With a large number of CBB probes in a wireless network, supporting them uniformly becomes difficult. Furthermore, as the CBB probes contain private information (such as information about the subscriber's web browsing and/or use of provider's services), security within the wireless network is a challenge. A wireless service provider needs to accurately and completely probe the various data streams to ensure proper billing of all subscribers. When a wireless network includes an insufficient number of CBB probes, some traffic within the wireless network will not be billed.
Because the CBB probes are IP-based, they do not determine user experience in terms of the Quality of Service (QoS) as the sniffed data does not include data related to QoS metrics. Among the measures of QoS are latency, jitter, and error. Latency is the round-trip delay between a request for data and reception of the requested data at the MS 100. Jitter is the variability in the arrival time of data packets to the MS 100. Errors correspond to the number of retransmissions or dropped packets to the MS 100.
In addition, the CBB probes only measure a subscriber's use of the wireless network. Wireless service providers are developing a growing number of applications that operate on an MS, but do not access the wireless network itself. Examples of such applications are games. At the present time, a wireless service provider includes a flat billing fee for such applications regardless of actual usage as CBB probes cannot detect usage of such applications.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for monitoring data used by, and applications run on, an MS for billing and QoS purposes. Such a system should be easy to implement and maintain, should readily scale with a growing wireless network, and should accurately monitor QoS.